Railway journal lubricator pad



1966 J. J. HENNESSY, JR

RAILWAY JOURNAL LUBRICATOR BAD Filed May 13, 19 64 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 6) 3,292,979 RAILWAY JOURNAL LUBRICATOR PAD James J. Hennessy, Jr., Chambersburg, Pa., assignor to Hennessy Lubricator Company, Inc., Chambersburg, Pa., a corporation of Delaware FiledMay 13, 1964, Ser. No. 367,082 4 Claims. (Cl. 308-87) The invention relates to lubricators for railway axle journals and their bearings and more particularly to that type of lubricator involving a pad inserted between the bottom of a journal and the bottom of a journal box and mounting wick-like elements of pronounced capillary attraction quality by which lubricant is self-feeding to the journal surface from the sump formed by the lower portion of the box.

Among the objects of the invention are to simplify, and to economically produce, a lubricant distributing pad of the type referred to which will effectively distribute lubricant over a substantial surface of the journal and eliminate dry areas which might result in part of the journal being overheated or scratched because of absence of lubricant.

'In the accompanying drawings illustrating one form of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a railway axle journal and journal box including a solid bearing and wedge and provided with a lubricator pad embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the pad and a horizontal section through the box and pad approximately on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a vertical transverse section on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the pad.

The axle wheel seat 1, dry seat 2, journal 3, with collar 4, bearing 5, liner 6 and journal box 7 are of familiar Association of American Railroads (A.A.R.) standard.

The lubricator pad comprises a substantially solid block-like cushion body or core member 11 of elastic material corresponding generally to foam rubber, but preferably consisting of urethane plastic or neoprene having the consistency of sponge rubber which is elastic and readily deformable by manual handling so as to be squeezed in between the bottom of the journal and the bottom wall of the box and to expand sufiiciently to maintain contact with the journal. Several slits 12, 13, 14 of elongated narrow cross section extend through member 11 from top to bottom and preferably their cross section elongation extends diagonally of the longitudinal center line C of member 11, as best shown in FIG. 2. The corresponding upright edges of successive slits are substantially abreast of each other transversely of the pad.

Inserted in the slits are fiat wicks 16 of capillary attraction material such as woven cotton and are of corresponding cross section. Each wick is slightly longer than the depth of the block and its projecting ends may be flattened as indicated at 17 to form an oil absorbing lower end and an oil distributing upper end of greater area than the cross section of the wick material.

When inserting the wick into the slit the sides of the latter will be spread apart and when released will firmly position the wick against movement lengthwise of the slit. Nevertheless the wick is readily withdrawn from the pad and reinserted or replaced when it is desired to clean the pad or wick or renew a worn wick element.

In slitting the core for inserting the wicks, no core material is removed and since the wick is flat it has larger surface in contact with the core in proportion to the wick volume than present in a solid cylindrical or rectangular wick as is customarily used. The wick is less likely to work out of place than a wick of larger cross ice section or a wick inserted in an opening in the core formed by the removal of core material.

Preferably the upper end of each wick is wide enough to overlap the adjacent wick transversely of the pad and journal. The pad core and the wicks are inserted into a pocket-like casing or bag 19 comprising a single pocket or enclosure for the core and having a substantially continuous exterior face of tufted yarn 20 which feeds lubricant along the upright sides of the casing to the top of the casing which is also supplied with lubricant, intermediate the sides of the pad, by the diagonally disposed wicks, immediately beneath the area of the greatest pressure by the journal which will tend to abstract the greater amount of oil than the more lightly'pressured marginal areas.

The result of this spaced apart diagonal overlapping arrangement of flat wicks will be the feeding of lubricant by an elongated relatively narrow wick distributing surface extending lengthwise of the lowermost portion of the journal rather than feeding through a plurality of spaced apart areas of large diameter transversely of the pad and journal as is customarily used in wick-type lubricator pads. As the journal rotates its central lower portion will be in contact with the wick substantially throughout its length and surplus oil will be forced beyond the lines of contacts with the wicks and toward the journal collar 4 and fillet 18.

The meeting edges of the cover strip are stitched together and an elongated handle or pull strap 22 is secured to the casing at one end of the pad.

The construction simplifies the pad structure by utilizing a single wide dimensioned casing with a continuous lubricant distributing surface, and a corresponding single wide core, thus avoiding forming the casing with a plurality of pockets and doubling the layers of the fabric between the pockets, and the use of multiple cores, all of which must be manipulated and restitched or restapled when the pad is to be cleaned or the wicks replaced so as to maintain the pad in serviceable condition.

The closed bag construction affords maximum protection to the core and wicks from damage by packing hooks and exposure to the sunlight and the atmosphere and increases the stability of the pad so that in operation it will not shift out of position because of movement of the journal. The continuous side and end walls of tufted material improves the efficiency of the pad in conducting additional oil to the journal collar and fillet.

The details of the structure may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A lubricant distributor pad for a railway axle journal box comprising a block-like core member of elastic material provided with a plurality of slits extending vertically through the member and of narrow elongated cross section extending horizontally diagonally of the member across the longitudinal center line of the member and spaced apart lengthwise of the member, and fiat strips of wick-like material of corresponding cross section inserted through said slits and projecting below the bottom of the member and above the top of the member and held assembled with the member by the elasticity of the member.

2. In combination, a railway axle journal, provided with a solid bearing, a journal box mounted on the bearing and enclosing the journal and forming a lubricant sump, a block shaped cushion of elastic material under distorting pressure between the bottom of the box and the bottom of the journal, there being slits of narrow elongated cross section in said cushion from top to bottom thereof with the elongation of the cross section of each 0 slit inclined diagonally of the length of the journal and spaced apart lengthwise of the cushion, and thin flat wicks of corresponding cross section in said slits having portions projecting above the top of the cushion and contacting the bottom of the journal and overlapping each other transversely of the journal.

3. A lubricant distributor pad for a railway axle journal box comprising a block-like core member of elastic material provided with a plurality of slits extending vertically through the member and extending horizontally diagonally of the member at opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the member and spaced apart lengthwise -of the member, and fiat strips of wick-like material inserted through said slits and held to the core by the pressure of the sides of the slits against the strips, the strips projecting through the top of the member, and a casing of tufted fabric formed into a single pocket having a layer of tufted fabric extending from side to side and end to end and from top to bottom of the pad 4. A lubricant distributor pad for a railway axle journal as described in claim 1, in which portions of the wick project above the top surface of the member and form an elongated relatively narrow wick distributing surface substantially throughout the length of the pad.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,138,971 12/1938 Keeler et al. 308-88 2,291,483 7/1942 Miller .308--243 2,713,524 7/1955 Hagy 308243 2,920,928 1/1960 Burkart et al. 308-243 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. FRANK SUSKO, Examiner. 

1. A LUBRICANT DISTRIBUTOR PAD FOR A RAILWAY AXLE JOURNAL BOX COMPRISING A BLOCK-LIKE CORE MEMBER OF ELASTIC MATERIAL PROVIDED WITH A PLUALITY OF SLITS EXTENDING VERTICALLY THROUGH THE MEMBER AND OF NARROW ELONGATED CROSS SECTION EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY DIAGONALLY OF THE MEMBER ACROSS THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF THE AND SPACED AART LENGTHWISE OF THE MEMBER, AND FLAT STRIPS OF WICK-LIKE MATERIAL OF CORRESPONDING CROSS SECTION INSERTED THROUGH SAID SLITS AND PROJECTING BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE MEMBER AND ABOVE THE TOP OF THE MEMBER AND HELD ASSEMBLED WITH THE MEMBER BY THE ELASTICALLY OF THE MEMBER. 